Donziger & Ecuadorians Submit Reply Briefs in RICO Case

Lawyers for Steven Donziger and the Ecuadorian Defendants in Chevron’s retaliatory RICO case have submitted their post-trial reply briefs in the case.

Both briefs deftly lay out the hollowness of Chevron’s allegations, and explain how Chevron’s scorched earth legal efforts are designed to crush those who would hold the company accountable for its contamination in Ecuador, and distract from the oil giant’s abuses and dirty tactics in attempting to evade accountability.

Both briefs (33 & 43 pages, respectively) are concise and readable, in contrast to Chevron’s sprawling 127-page reply brief which is, as usual, long on bluster and very short on dealing with actual legal issues.

The reply brief submitted for Donziger begins:

Well before this case went to trial, renowned trial attorney John Keker observed that the case had “degenerated into a Dickensian farce. Through scorched-earth litigation, executed by its army of hundreds of lawyers, Chevron is using its limitless resources to crush defendants and win this case through might rather than merit.”

Chevron’s latest display of might over merit comes in the form of approximately one thousand pages of post-trial briefing, proposed findings, and exhibits. But the only thing this show of force manages to prove is that brevity is indeed the soul of wit. In fact, the sheer heft of Chevron’s papers only makes the legal and factual holes in its case more apparent.

I Stand with Steven

I Stand with Steven

Pledge:

I support attorney Steven Donziger and Ecuadorian advocates Javier Piaguaje and Hugo Camacho in their efforts to hold Chevron accountable for its devastation of farmer and indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I call on Chevron to end its attacks against human rights lawyers, activists, and the communities of Ecuador who continue to demand Chevron meet its legal, moral, and ethical responsibilities and clean up its toxic waste in Ecuador.

During more than two decades of oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Chevron admitted to discharging billions of gallons of toxic water into the rainforest, leaving local people suffering from an epidemic of cancer, miscarriages and birth defects. The affected indigenous and farmer communities have fought back with the help of a committed local legal effort, grassroots activism, and the tireless efforts of lawyers from around the world, including New York-based human rights lawyer Steven Donziger.

Chevron spent nine years arguing in United States Federal Court that the case against it should be heard in Ecuador. After being found liable for $19 billion in damages in the very Ecuadorian Court chosen by the company, Chevron responded by filing a retaliatory suit against Steven Donziger, Ecuadorian lawyer and advocate Pablo Fajardo, Goldman Prize winner Luis Yanza, and all 47 of their named clients in the very venue Chevron deemed inappropriate when the case was originally brought.

Chevron’s abusive legal strategy flies in the face of everything that our justice system and indeed our Constitution holds dear. For these reasons I support the fight of Steven Donziger, Javier Piaguaje, and Hugo Camacho and their colleagues to hold Chevron accountable for its contamination in Ecuador and the abuses of our justice system.